Soul Sessions

Guess what? She is more that the real thing. Yes her voice is amazing as is her interpretation of songs that no one in her peer group (or older comporaries for that matter) could touch. No over the top hystrionics to "prove" the she can sing (hello, Mariah, Celine, early Christina, and almost every "American Idol" contestant who manages to carry a tune.

This debut is on fire! Playing up the old-school R&B flavor in her music, Stone was signed by S-Curve Records and brought to the US to work with Betty Wright, best known for her 1972 hit "The Clean Up Woman". Wright recruited key musicians to rekindle the fire of old school soul with an amazing collection of REVAMPED covers that Stone immediately makes her own.

I was very skeptical before buying this CD (which by the way is a bargain almost everywhere selling for half the $ of most current releases) as critics tend to want to find the next best thing and hype a good thing into something that it is not. This is not about hype as Stone has a smoky voice that reeks of a hard-lived life, which only shows that a great interpreter need to not have experienced what she sings about to make you feel it all the way down to your soul.

Stone's record company felt that it was best to drop this release of covers over a formal debut album of original material and I could not agree with their decision any more than if I had made it himself. There are many established artists releasing CDs of standards right now (some are great, most are not), but the magic here is in the ecclectic yet cohesive song selection, a voice from the center of the soul, and a production effort that is second to none. Betty Wright has stripped the music in such a way that it seems effortless.

In a nutshell, but this release now if you love music over tired hystrionics or every neo-soul artist that is heralded as the next best thing. The next best thing is here and I wish her a great career. Also Betty Wright is obviously a producing talent to be reckoned with. No tricks, no veils, just the dance between a singer and music that together make this one, if not the best release of 2003.

Once you get past the talk about this CD and go beyond a casual listening it's obvious that Joss is a modern singer. But she reaches back and pulls these songs forward with her interpretation and makes them her own. Eva Cassidy comes to mind and you'll hear her voice more than once, especially when Joss is belting it out in the upper ranges. It is not a perfect effort but she makes me listen to every breath, bend, and silence and can tug at your heart. She has all my attention and I'm looking forward to what comes next, especially with her own material.

The CD is about more than Joss and the story behind it is well worth looking in to. This 350 rpm disk will make a lot of more mature (older) people smile as they handle it and thumb through the book. The musicians are spot on and a joy to hear. The production is spare and actually lets you listen to the musicianship. All the elements here come together--singer, musicians, music, production, packaging, and pricing--to create a perfect storm that shows up everything that is wrong with the music industry today. The Soul Sessions matters in a way that music used to matter and noone should think twice about picking up a copy.

"The Soul Sessions" is an excellent start for her. It's quite impressive. Hard to believe this big voice is coming from someone who is only 16. Sound familiar??? Every time I listen to Josh Groban, I can't believe he's only 23. These young guns are really raising the bar and it's about time.

I only hope that less emphasis is placed on her being white. Joss' voice is more than good enough to sail this ship. It's not necessary for MTV to run a Miramax-style ad campaign. Sometimes if you push too much, you can turn people away. Joss is the real thing. All of that stuff just becomes a distraction and takes away from what's important, her singing. I even thought MTV was crazy when they mentioned her name in the same sentence as Mariah and Whitney. But they were on target. Although, you really need to hear her entire CD to draw that conclusion. Otherwise, it just sounds like hype. The clips that are provided on Amazon.com aren't worthy of her true talent. BestBuy.com allows you to listen to clips from ALL of her songs and are of a much higher quality. So I would suggest checking the latter.

I've been aware of Joss for at least 6 months, but I didn't buy her CD until yesterday. I've played it straight through 3 times, and can confidently say that this is a definite must have. I hope her record label continues to be patient and support her because she's worth it. Joss is the best, she knows it. So her label better take good care of her. They've got something big. I believe in you, Joss. Your dreams WILL come true!!! It might not be easy, but hang in there.

Favorite Songs: #1 The Chokin' Kind, #2 Super Duper Love, #4 Victim of a Foolish Heart, #7 I've Fallen in Love with You, #9 All The King's Horses.